Keep in mind that most civilian employers don't offer a pension anymore either. So 10% auto-contribution takes place of that. So 5% plus some kind of pension isn't terrible compared to most retirement plans. No idea about the airlines though. They probably give you a billion dollars and a private island.

You're probably just an asshole and haven't figured it out yet. Seriously though, everyone at the interviews should have similar scores/resume. Even if you're a good fit, maybe someone was a better fit. Maybe they're hiring dudes from within the unit. Maybe they hired a dude who has been rushing the unit for a long time. You never know. Don't worry about it, just keep working towards it and if it works out great. If not, you're probably just an asshole...

I don't disagree with you. In fact, in a few posts back I even said "Maybe you don't need one" and gave a few reasons why you would want one. I don't know what it does to the cost of an engine to design it with the performance characteristics of an AB without actually having an AB but my guess is costs goes up.

It has nothing to do with ops checks. Not to be a dick but it seems you've never flown anything that burns fuel like a 4th gen fighter (or earlier) in AB in a tactical sortie. Ops checks tell you when to KIO and go home. Learning how to not use AB to stay in position is what allows your 4 ship to cover the entire Vul. Honestly though, if the T-38 wasn't so old, this conversation wouldn't be happening. It's happening because our current trainer is 60+ years old, not because it's systems are inadequate for training future fighter pilots.

I agree, if you were asking me. Let's put our money into our follow on Aircraft, not into some trainer. Guys go from flying -38s with no HUD to flying Raptors with all the bells and whistles. While task saturation is an issue initially, they figure it out. We don't need all this shit in a trainer.

Maybe you don't need one, but every follow on fighter is going to have it. It'll start to teach them good fuel awareness and throttle usage during sorties, so they don't Bingo out the 4 ship 20 minutes into the Vul, which also makes them fly better formation. If you're going to teach BFM in it, then you can teach when to be in AB vs Mil vs Idle when offensive, defensive, or high aspect. It's probably also a good time to teach AB failures on takeoff, blowouts, AB fires, etc.. Last, but definitely not least, it's f#cking cool. Just like anything else in flying fighters, the feel/sound associated with pilot input is critical in teaching and assessing performance.

This doesn't make any sense. Flying Red Air in a -38 will not make you a better fighter pilot in follow on platforms. If you want to make a guy good in a specific jet, put them in that jet and let them fly. Dudes are ready to fly fighters after they leave IFF as is (or at least should be). As far as a replacement goes, it needs wings and an afterburner. Anything else is a nice to have.

I don't fly with a CDU in the Viper (yet), but how much processing power and storage would it take to handle some PDFs? I'm not smart on this stuff, but with the current technology in my jet and my cell phone, this shit has to be pretty simple to implement. And then maintenance can update the pubs or checklist overnight when they key Link 16 anyways.

If every CAF fighter pilot is saying this is a bad idea, it's a bad idea. People trying to come up with creative solutions with a "can do" attitude just don't understand the complexity of what we do. It's not rocket surgery but you can't rush the process. The only way to get better is with experience. That goes for executing tactics and general decision making skills. All this for what? Cutting 6 months of the decades worth of manning issues the AF is going to have? Not worth it.